Well, would you call this “working as intended”?
3 Likes
Ultra Wide without limit was totaly game breaking.
Just look at it : https://i.imgur.com/W0Pfl6G.mp4
It was impossible to see it at Alpha with normal mode and two acts but definetly it would have been a disaster in End game (competitive Ladder ranking, item grabbing and especialy PvP).
Diablo II was not made to offer a view from the Moon and target all monsters without being in their AI range (16:9 max if i’m right).
- You could literaly skip whole game in 2 teleport.
- You could see monsters while other people can’t and avoid them.
- You could see items droping while other people can’t.
In PvP
- You can target your opponent because he is on your screen while he can’t see you
- You can reach your opponent in 2 teleports when he needs 5-6.
- You can go away from a risky situation and nobody will be able to follow you if they don’t have the same screen range.
- You can avoid hits so easily from every multiples traveling skills such as teeth (nec), multishot (bowa etc.).
At some point, Ultra Wide could break the actual balance between players in both PvM and PvP and kills the challenge of the original game.
Black bar is maybe not the best solution but it is the easiest one they found i guess for the moment.
Probably a “fog of war” + locking mousse after 16:9 that let you see at least the environnement (and it’s beautiful) but not monsters, players, opponents, skills casted and items dropped.
Others options
- Wide screen support for Single player only. Then people with wide screen can still enjoy it even if it’s totaly game breaking even in PvM (players vs monsters) since monsters AI doesnt work that far. You can see and hit them without being on their AI range.
- Wide support for multiplayer also but you add a “fog of war” and mouse is locked to 16:9 (ex
https://i.imgur.com/gVeiyX8.jpg)
- Wide screen zoomed :
https://i.imgur.com/RuufYwR.png
DHA
7 Likes
This would be the best solution to make everyone happy. I know I don’t speak for only myself when I say ultrawide users aren’t looking for an advantage or an easy mode in this game. We just don’t like it when 1/4 to 1/2 of the screen is just black in games. Its even more frustrating when the game supports it natively and the devs decide to lock it out.
Fog of war so we at least see the environment in that blank space + limit mouse clicks to 16:9.
5 Likes
The fact that the game is being rendered in full 21:9 or 32:9 with lazily implemented black bars is astounding. There are plenty of methods that could have been used, such as:
- Only rendering NPCs, players and objects in the 16:9 region while allowing terrain to render in full 21:9 or 32:9
- Allowing spells to be cast within the 16:9 region (e.g. if teleport is cast outside of the 16:9 region, it will only travel the max distance as if you were playing in 16:9)
- Fading in black bars if tagged for hostility (although, this would be unnecessary if players aren’t rendered until in 16:9 view)
Of course, in true Blizzard fashion, the absolute most lazy route was taken - slapping black bars on top of rendered content to appease a minority of vocal, salty players who don’t own an ultrawide or super ultrawide monitor for the sake of “integrity”.
What next, Blizz? Only allowing the game to run on 2 CPU cores and limiting VRAM to make the playing field more equitable?
2 Likes
Thank You developers. It’s great to see that You did take the work to read and separate logical valid arguments from uninformed nonsense that was flooding the thread(s) concerning this issue.
I really hope this solution (either black bars, or fog of war + locked cursor beyond16:9 ratio) is definitive and will stay there for the release.
This game does not work correctly with ultra wide aspect ratios, and never will, in multiplayer. And for single player, it would require a lot of work to make the monster aggro and skill ranges work correctly.
And no, ultra-wide is not the future, these are imo more suited for work, or very specialised games/software. More and more people are actually playing on 4k TVs, that are 16:9. And what about laptops ? They are always 16:9. Consoles ? Always 16:9…
Not to mention that a big 16:9 screen is actually more expensive than those ultra-wides, which often comes with VA panels that have horrible motion blur (hello, Samsung). So the ‘poor kiddies who cannot afford ultra wide’ argument is even bigger nonsense.
3 Likes
I dropped a load on my boob tube. 4k 120hz OLED 55" I love the aspect ratio that is currently in the game, and have seen the horror that is ultrawide with d2 modded. Enemy characters off screen jumbled up in groups doing nothing until you get close to them. It looked funny, but not something I would want with an ultra wide experience.
Seems like they did the right thing by disabling it.
4 Likes
So I am on a 27" iMac and can play D2R via Bootcamp. But, the UI bar at the bottom is 4" from where it should be at the bottom and when I press options I notice black bars on the left and right side. Is this what you guys are talking about? I’m not sure if the iMacs are considered ultra wide, but it is annoying.
Who the hell plays on ultrawide in 2021? Dead end.
1 Like
Maybe black bars aren’t the perfect solution but having this much adventage in alpha on widescreen was stupidly OP.
2 Likes
Yes you are probably right after thinking again. The problem (for me!) is the possible advantage in pvp, cause you could click earlier when seeing more. So in my eyes it would be enough to just make it black, if you are in an area (or something like that) with an hostile player. In pvm and singleplayer i do not mind if you guys have like 5xxx width
Its funny how people who are complaining here are clueless about this. Its not just pvp lol, ultrawide monitors are completely breaking pvm also. This game werent design for that. Monsters do not attack from so far away.
And its not just pvp, its also PK, i guess you will like to be killed across map by player killer on hardcore…
2 Likes
its fantastic 
and before you ask, i do own a 3440x1440 monitor, and i still like it, why?? because the game would be broken otherwise
1 Like
I feel like alot of people who are “against” ultrawides fail to grasp the point. It’s not about gaining an advantage. It’s about having a more immersive picture/FoV and being able to use your full screen real estate. You wouldnt like it if they remastered the game and only supported 4:3 would you?
Blackbanding resolutions wider than 16:9 is just an extremely easy and disappointing fix to this broken advantage. For example: this to me feels similar like console ports who fix the fps cap @ 30 or 60fps when migrating a game to PC because they are too lazy to allow the full potential of pc hardware.
Alot of people have given good examples of other solutions that don’t just block part of the screen but do fix the unlimited casting range / farsight “maphack”.
I hope Blizzard will give a proper statement next week as to why they’ve chosen this route and if they intend to keep it like this.
8 Likes
That’s an interesting point. I need to watch someone play on 4K. I’m assuming they don’t have black bars?
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No I don’t have black bars. Since the game is 16:9
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Yeah and it also was built on 4:3 so by your logic 16:9 should have black bars too just in case anyone is still using a 4:3 monitor. I’d bet there are way less people playing a 21 yr old game for pvp then there are people who own ultrawide monitors who want to play D2 Rez full resolution.
3 Likes
There is an easy solution for this that PoE already implements. If you target outside of the 16:9 area and try to use a skill it does nothing. I mean there are many other solutions to this than black bars.
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I used to play with black bars, yes. With the old D2, then I got a wrapper and it fixed it. Maybe someone will do that for you, sad to say it wasn’t Blizzard though.
Agreed! they need a different fix other than just black bars
2 Likes
we don’t want a cheat just a different fix that isn’t black bars
2 Likes